1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a watertight connector having means for preventing intrusion of water into the joint between a male connector housing and a female connector housing which are mated with each other to complete a circuit.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A connector including a male connector housing and a female connector housing mated with each other is used to established an electrical connection by mating terminal members built in them, and, in an environment where there is a possibility of exposure to rainwater or the like a watertight connector is used so as to avoid short-circuit trouble.
Such watertight connectors are disclosed in, for example, JP-A No. 58-186178, JUM-A No. 52-127292 and JUM-A No. 61-54677.
In a watertight connector disclosed in, for example, JP-A No. 58-186178 cited above, its male connector housing is formed, at the outside of its outer wall, a water-intrusion preventive wall which surrounds the outer wall in a relation spaced from the outer wall by a predetermined distance, that is, while defining a cavity therebetween. An elastic packing is fixedly mounted in this cavity.
On the other hand, a female connector housing of the connector has a hollow columnar portion which, when the female connector housing is mated with the male connector housing, is inserted into the cavity of the male connector housing to compress the elastic packing thereby sealing the joint watertight.
However, the watertight connector having such a structure is defective in that the packing cannot be easily forced into and fixed in position in the cavity of the male connector housing, and the necessity for extension of the packing arises frequently.
In watertight connectors disclosed in JUM-A No. 52-127292 and JUM No. 61-54677 cited above too, difficulty is also encountered for inserting an elastic packing into a male connector housing. Because of the above difficulty, it is very difficult to confirm as to whether or not the packing has been accurately inserted in a predetermined position in the male connector housing. Therefore, the disclosed watertight connectors are defective in that water tends to leak through the joint when the packing is not accurately inserted in the predetermined position.